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Different strains of marijuana are displayed during the grand opening of the Seattle location of the Northwest Cannabis Market, for sales of medical marijuana products. Applicants for licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts will need to show strong finances, including having at least $500,000 in liquid capital to ensure they have the resources to operate.
(Photo by Elaine Thompson / Associated Press [file])

BOSTON — Applicants for licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts will need to show strong finances, including having at least $500,000 in liquid capital to ensure they have the resources to operate.

In addition, the state Department of Public Health is proposing $31,500 in fees to apply for a license for a retail dispensary and growing operation.

Robert Carp, a Needham lawyer and president of the Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Dispensers' Association, said the state's capital requirements could effectively exclude some entrepreneurs and certain nonprofit organizations such as advocates for military veterans or certain diseases.

Carp said he is teaming up with a New York-based private investment firm to offer "100 percent financing" for qualified groups to open a medical marijuana dispensary. He said he is currently reviewing 15 applications for the financing.

"We want people who concentrate on helping patients, not just people who concentrate on helping themselves," said Carp, who says he has some friends and relatives with diseases who use marijuana for medical reasons.

Carp said Massachusetts is requiring stiffer capital requirements than most other states with medical marijuana.

Carp said applicants for financing from his affiliated firm will need to be "patient-centered" and demonstrate solid credit, a business plan and nonprofit experience.

Carp would not disclose the identity of the investment firm. He also declined to name any groups applying for financing.

The state Department of Public Health expects to have a competitive application process this summer and fall for licenses to operate medical marijuana dispensaries, according to David Kibbe, communications director for the department. The application form is not yet available.

The requirement for $500,000 in operating capital for marijuana dispensers is established within 45 pages of state regulations approved by the policy-making council of the department in early May.

The draft application fees for dispensary applicants and other fees for the program -- designed to fully fund state costs of regulation and oversight -- are expected to be made public soon.

The department expects to approve dispensaries by the end of this year, Kibbe said.

The department will be overseeing a two-part application process including a first phase intended to, among other things, show financial backing, and then a second phase to apply for a site-specific license.

All applicants must demonstrate nonprofit status.

The law requires up to 35 dispensaries around the state including at least one in each county and a limit of five for any one county.

People with certain "debilitating medical conditions," including cancer, glaucoma, the virus that causes AIDS or "other conditions" determined by a doctor, can obtain a registration card and possess up to a 60-day supply of marijuana, defined as 10 ounces in the regulations.

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have approved medical marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law.

A total of 63 percent of voters in Massachusetts approved a medical marijuana ballot question last November.

Carp said he expects it will take six months to a year for a dispensary to open once it obtains a license. Each dispensary will need retail space, plus a growing facility that would require 20,000 to 40,000 square feet, plumbing, special lights and security, he said.

Carp said he expects the state to initially award licenses for 19 dispensaries. He said about 100 different organizations could be bidding for the licenses.

Carp and a legal partner have helped applicants for licenses in other states with compliance, taxes and other issues.